2D Barcode Technology Research Articles

Utilization of 2D Barcode Technology to Create Surgical Pathology Reports

Abstract Introduction/Objective After professional transcription service is eliminated, pathologists inevitably undertake the task of diagnostic data entry into pathology repot by adapting a variety of methods such as speech recognition, manual typing, and pre-texted command. Errors and inefficiency in reporting remain common problems, especially for information with unusual syntax such as genotype or nucleotide sequences. To overcome these shortcomings, we introduce here a novel application of a well-established technology as a complementary method, namely 2- dimensional (2D) barcode symbology. Methods/Case Report Commonly used diagnostic wordings of pathology reports including specimen type, surgical procedure, diagnosis, and test results are collated and organized by organ (specimen type) and by their frequency of usage/occurrence. Next, 2D data matrix barcodes are created for these diagnostic wordings using a on-line tool (www.free-barcode-generator.net/datamatrix/). The 2D barcodes along with their text are displayed on the computer screen (or printed out as a booklet). A 2D barcode scanner (Symbol LS2208, Motorola) was used to retrieve the text information from the barcodes and transfer into the pathology report. To assess the efficacy of this barcode method, we evaluated the time of data entry into reports for 117 routine cases using an on-line stopwatch and compared with those by other data entry methods. Results (if a Case Study enter NA) Unlike manual typing or speech recognition, the barcode method did not introduce typographic or phonosemantic errors since the method simply transferred pre-texted and proof-read text content to report. It was also faster than manual typing or speech recognition, and its speed was comparable to that of the pre-text method integrated in LIS but did not require human memorization of innumerable text commands to retrieve desired diagnosis wordings. Conclusion Our preliminary results demonstrated that the diagnostic data entry time was reduced from 28.5% by other methods to 22.1% by the barcode method although due to the small sample size, statistical analysis was not conclusive.

Smart Supervision for Food Safety in Food Service Establishments in China: Challenges and Solutions

Foodborne diseases are a burden in countries worldwide. Several countries have successfully implemented policies that establish innovative systems for the inspection and grading of food service establishments (FSEs), which have greatly contributed to a reduction in foodborne diseases. China's government has also responded by developing policies to protect consumers' food safety, including the routine inspection policy and the risk-based grading policy. However, implementation of both policies has been poor to date. The aim of this study was to identify regulatory challenges and design a smart supervision solution. The results of a national survey showed that the major barriers to policy implementation were a heavy individual workload, the high turnover rate of FSEs, lack of a monitoring and evaluation system, lack of social support, low development of food safety training programs in FSEs, and a lack of financing. A smart supervision solution to these challenges was designed based on mobile Internet and two-dimensional (2D) barcode technology. A pilot application in Jilin province assisted local supervisors in carrying out regulatory work on FSEs, which proved the feasibility of smart supervision. This study can be used as an example for food safety supervision in other regions, and it can assist other governments that wish to implement similar policies to ensure food safety in their countries.

Batch-based traceability for pork: A mobile solution with 2D barcode technology

As an animal-derived food, pork provides Chinese consumers with important nutritional value. The frequent safety incidents related to pork-made food have led the government and public advocate that a traceability system is as an effective means of controlling food quality and safety. This paper thus introduces a mobile pork quality and safety tracing system based on 2D (two-dimensional) barcode (also known as QR code) technology. First, literature search and field observations are used to evaluate the business processes in pork supply chain and key traceability information in the system. Then, a mobile solution based on 2D barcode technology for information collection, transformation, and delivery is designed. Finally, a pilot implementation in Jilin Province's Meat and Meat Products Safety Traceability and Regulatory Digitization Project is reported. The traceability system was integrated with the government supervision system to achieve the supervision and traceability of pork from source to table. Implementation results reveal that the system can realize batch-based traceability of pork, which greatly decreases traceability system cost. Additionally, the information verification mechanism between upstream and downstream players, as well as the full participation of consumers, enterprises, and the government, significantly improve the credibility of the traced information.

Development and validation of a survey instrument to assess attitudes of healthcare professionals on using 2D bar-code technology: an extension of the Technical Acceptance Model

Development and validation of a survey instrument to assess attitudes of healthcare professionals on using 2D bar-code technology: an extension of the Technical Acceptance Model

Based on 2D Barcode Technology to Design of Wolfberry Products Traceability System

The main purpose of this paper is to study the application of 2D barcode in the design of the Chinese wolfberry product traceability system. Through the design of Chinese wolfberry product traceability system, the application of 2D barcode technology, the application of 2D barcode to identify agricultural products, so as to improve the traceability of Chinese wolfberry products. The results confirmed that the application of 2D barcode technology to design the product traceability system, can improve the traceability of Chinese wolfberry products, compared with the previous increase of 6%, play a positive impact. Using 2D barcode technology to Ddetermine agricultural products, not only to enhance the design level of Chinese wolfberry product traceability system, but also effectively play the application value, improve the traceability of wolfberry products.

Foreign Language Vocabulary Learning with Mobile Technologies

The importance given to foreign language with the development of information and communication technologies has led innovations in teaching activities. New modern ways have been sought for the use of information technologies in foreign language courses and how these technologies to be transferred in more effective and engaging way. In this study, the effect of the multimedia content integrated to learning materials using 2D barcode technology to vocabulary learning and students’ ideas about this new learning environment were investigated. 40 students from Gazi University, Department of English Language Teaching participated to the study and they separated to 2 groups randomly. Learning content is limited with the 84 words contained in course book. Mobile content has been presented to the students with 2D barcodes placed to the pages of the book. The achievement test that measures the vocabulary learned was applied to the students before the study as pre-test and after the study as post-test. Participants have used the course book and mobile learning material for two weeks. In conclusion, mobile assisted learning environment has increased students’ level of vocabulary for the target words. Students’ opinions about this new environment supported the results.

Piloting the use of 2D barcode and patient safety‐software in an Australian tertiary hospital setting

Errors in administration of blood products can lead to poor patient outcomes including fatal ABO incompatible transfusions. This pilot study sought to establish whether the use of two-dimensional (2D) barcode technology combined with patient identification software designed to assist in blood administration improves the bedside administration of transfusions in an Australian tertiary hospital. The study was conducted in a Haematology/Oncology Day Clinic of a major metropolitan hospital, to evaluate the use of 2D barcode technology and patient safety-software and hand-held PDAs to assist nursing staff in patient identification and blood administration. Comparative audits were conducted before and after the technology's implementation. The preimplementation transfusion practice audits demonstrated a poor understanding of the blood checking process, with focus on the product rather than patient identification. Following the implementation of 2D barcode technology and patient safety-software, there was significant improvement in administration practice. Positive, verbal patient identification improved from 57% (51/90) to 94% (75/80). Similarly, the cross-referencing of the patient's identification with the patient's wristband improved from 36% (32/90) to 94% (75/80), and the cross-referencing of patient ID on the compatibility tag to wristbands improved from 48% (43/90) to 99% (79/80). Importantly, the 2D barcode technology and patient safety-software saw 100% (80/80) of checks being conducted at the patient bedside, compared with 76% (68/90) in the preimplementation audits. This pilot study demonstrates that 2D barcode technology and patient safety-software significantly improves the bedside check of patient and blood product identification in an Australian setting.

A traceability system incorporating 2D barcode and RFID technology for wheat flour mills

Wheat flour undergoes several processing steps in its transformation from raw wheat in the mill, which differentiates wheat flour from other farm products. At each step, various wheat sources are combined into one batch of wheat flour. This study primarily aimed to develop a Wheat Flour Milling Traceability System (WFMTS), incorporating 2D barcode and radio frequency identification (RFID) technology, and to validate the system in a wheat flour mill in China. We designed the encoding rules for the raw material, processing and traceability batches. Labels with a Quick Response Code (QR Code) were attached to small packages of wheat flour to link them to their processing information, and RFID tags were affixed to the storage bins to record logistics information. A traceability system was developed based on batch identification and record keeping. The system was applied and supported in a wheat flour mill for one year. The WFMTS management and traceability capacity was evaluated using a contrast experiment. The experiment was divided into five parts, including raw material data recording, processing data recording, package data recording, logistics data recording and traceability query. The results show that although time consumption using WFMTS in package data recording was more than that with paper recording, WFMTS was dominant in its total time consumption: five parts were reduced by 113%, and the mean accuracy of the five parts increased by 8%. The QR Code and RFID recognition accuracy was evaluated using experiments with different reading distances. The cost and income variations in application WFMTS were analyzed based on the survey. The results show that the total cost increased by 17.2% to apply the system. Compared to the cost, the sales income increase was obvious, and it reached 32.5%. Considering the good evaluation results, the system has good application potential in medium or large wheat mill enterprises.

A Dynamic Data-Driven Framework for Biological Data Using 2D Barcodes

Biology data is increasing exponentially from biological laboratories. It is a complicated problem for further processing the data. Processing computational data and data from biological laboratories manually may lead to potential errors in further analysis. In this paper, we proposed an efficient data-driven framework to inspect laboratory equipment and reduce impending failures. Our method takes advantage of the 2D barcode technology which can be installed on the specimen as a trigger for the data-driven system. For this end, we proposed a series of algorithms to speed up the data processing. The results show that the proposed system increases the system's scalability and flexibility. Also, it demonstrates the ability of linking a physical object with digital information to reduce the manual work related to experimental specimen. The characteristics such as high capacity of storage and data management of the 2D barcode technology provide a solution to collect experimental laboratory data in a quick and accurate fashion.

Reducing the spatial distance between printed and online information sources by means of mobile technology enhances learning: Using 2D barcodes

Online information sources, such as pictures and animations on web pages are frequently used for complementing printed course material in educational contexts. The concurrent use of online and printed information sources by students, however, requires going back and forth between physically separated course material, such as a course book and a computer screen, thus leading to suboptimal learning outcomes. Compatible with the principles identified by the recent theoretical frameworks for multimedia learning, mobile technology provides learners with the opportunity to bring online and printed course material close together. Mobile phones make online information available within a small desktop space, in close proximity to printed course material. The challenges that are relevant to text input methods can be overcome by the 2D barcode technology. This study investigates the use of camera-equipped mobile phone and 2D barcode technology as an alternative to the use of computer screen for complementing printed course material. The results of the experimental investigation suggest that, by facilitating the access to online information sources by 2D barcode tags on course books, mobile phones have the potential to enhance learning.

Research and Application of 2D Barcode in Hospital Informatization

Barcode technology is one of the automatic identification technologies that are developed and used very rapidly in recent years. As the application and popularization of wireless communication and mobile device technology, the 2D (two dimensional) barcode technology has been used in preliminary in social production, e-commerce and commercial activities. In this paper, the different applications of 2D barcode in hospital informatization are studied, 2D barcode-based informatization methods are presented, and the tier framework of hospital information system is established. The system structure is divided into three tiers according to the principles of system access and realization. By using the barcode-based informatization method in multiple links of hospital business, the data input efficiency will be greatly improved and the information processing time will be shorten in great deal, so the service level of the hospital is improved.

Applications of 2D Barcode for Mobile Tagging

2D barcode, which carries more data than a traditional UPC barcode becomes popular. Camera phones can be used to scan barcodes on consumer packaging and other printed media. The scanned images are decoded for specific information, such as a URL for certain product, a promotion code, the product identity, etc. The technology makes it possible to connect the static printed information to the interactive and updating information. This paper explores the integration of printed media and digital media via 2D barcode, and the applications of utilizing 2D barcode in marketing, counterfeiting, and exchanging information. 2D barcode technology can bridge the gap between printed media to dynamic information via digital devices. The mobile tagging technology will become a value-added feature for printed media, including consumer packaging and news media

Watermarking two dimensional data object identifier for authenticated distribution of digital multimedia contents

A digital object identifier refers to diverse technologies associated with assigning an identifier to a digital resource and managing the identification system. One type of implementation of a digital object identifier developed by the Korean Government is termed the Universal Content Identifier (UCI) system. It circulates and utilizes identifiable resources efficiently by connecting various online and offline identifying schemes. UCI tags can contain not only identifiers but also abundant additional information regarding contents. So, researchers and practitioners have shown great interest in methods that utilize the two-dimensional barcode (2D barcode) to attach UCI tags to digital contents. However, attaching a 2D barcode directly to a digital content raises two problems. First, quality of the content may deteriorate due to the insertion of the barcode; second, a malicious user can invalidate the identifying tag, simply by removing the tag from the original content. We believe that these concerns can be mitigated by inserting an invisible digital tag containing information about an identifier and digital copyrights into the entire area of the digital content. In this study, to protect copyrights of digital contents securely without quality degradation, we attempt to discover a sequence of process for generating a 2D barcode from a UCI tag and watermarking the barcode into a digital content. Such a UCI system can be widely applied to areas such as e-learning, distribution tracking, transaction certification, and reference linking services when the system is equipped with 2D barcode technology and secure watermarking algorithms. The latter part of this paper analyzes intensive experiments conducted to evaluate the robustness of traditional digital watermarking algorithms against external attacks.